Daddy's Little Girl
by x Ruby Dust x
Summary: Ginny returns after a couple years of trying to find her family. Upon her return, a new threat plagues the school and causes Logan to try to remember harder than ever. And who is the new kid that stole Ginny's room? BobbyxRogue.AngelxOCxPyro kinda. REVIEW
1. Prologue

hey everyone.

This is my first X-Men fic, so please be gentle. i'm just kind of getting into the groove of it, so bare with me for a while. i'm going to try to include a lot of characters in this one, but not so many i get overwhelmed so let's hope i do good with that. well, hope it sounds at least a little entertaining. I will say that, because of my writing style, my OC will probably come off as a bit "mary-sue-ish" at some points. I try to prevent it, but sometimes it's inevitable. i hope that won't be the case this time. and please don't let that turn you off. enough with the rambling...

read on and rock out

Ruby Dust

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**Timeline: After the trilogy...**

Prologue

The sound of metal scraping against metal rang out in the distance as Ororo Munroe stood with her arms folded, observing her familiar surroundings. Her foot tapped harder and harder on the ground as another robot head landed at her feet and Logan appeared from behind it. "You know," she sighed, throwing her fists towards the ground and storming off, "I'm getting real sick of this, Logan." Her students followed her, also getting slightly annoyed with their substitute and his lack of team work.

"And I was getting sick of the metal head," he grunted back.

Storm shook her head to clear her anger, aware that outside clouds were covering up the sky. The simulation ended as they exited the room, shedding various articles of their uniforms as they walked. After completely calming herself, which allowed the clouds outside to clear, Storm allowed her class to leave and returned to her office for some well needed alone time. Burying herself in paperwork, like she had for the past several days, Storm took all the time needed to be just with herself. If she consumed her thoughts with legal matters and other seemingly insignificant things, she wouldn't be able to think about what her mind really wanted to wonder to.

Fate made it seem inevitable, though. As she reached for a new pen, Storm noticed the postcard she had crumpled at thrown in the garbage. On one side: a dog wagging his tail merrily on a beach. On the other: a hastily scrawled note that had made Storm well up in tears.

_Professor,_

_I think I can finally say that I'm ready to come back. The adventure's been fun, but I miss all of you so much. I've given up on finding my family. It seems that I wasn't destined to have one. I may continue my search one day, but I when I remember how much you've helped me, and everyone else, it doesn't really matter to me anymore. Anyhow, I hope to see you soon._

_Ginny _

Storm clenched the folded paper in her hand tightly and held it to her chest. The mention of the professor still made her cry, as it should have. But how was she going to tell this girl, once a good student and friend of hers, that her mentor and father-figure was no longer in this world? How was she going to tell her about everything that had happened. No doubt Ginny would be expecting change. But when she did show up, how was she going to take all this news?

Those questions made Storm's skin crawl as she disposed of the postcard one more time. Burying it in the trash can, she could only hope that no one pulled it out again.

oOoOoOo

Bobby sauntered down the hallway, a flower in his hand and a smile accompanying it. It was his anniversary with Rogue, and he was certain that she had forgotten. All the better to surprise her, he thought as he pushed open the door to her room. She was sitting on her bed, a book in her lap. Her back was to him, so Bobby dropped the flower into her book and covered her eyes with his hands.

Rogue laughed at his little game, but didn't participate. She parted his hands and moved them around her waist, where he could hold her weight as she moved to kiss him. Their lips touched as Bobby's smile grew deeper into his already red cheeks. He hardly noticed that he was getting lightheaded until his knees gave way under him, causing them both to be knocked on the floor.

"Bobby!" Rogue changed her tone to that of a worried girlfriend. She had come to the realization that she loved him a while back, which made her mind on the ultimate decision to forgo her superhuman abilities.

She noticed that Bobby had been getting a little weaker lately. But when asked about it, he would shrug her off and state that he was fine. Mostly because he was.

Bobby picked himself up off the floor and took a moment to regain his balance. Just like that, he was 100 percent again. This was only evidence to one of his biggest fears: Rogue's abilities were coming back.

Sure, he loved that they were both mutants. He appreciated the fact that because of Rogue's, they had to fight a little harder to stay together. But Bobby Drake would be lying if he said he hadn't loved the last couple months. He got to touch his girlfriend in ways that he never thought he would. In the past couple months, Bobby had made it a point to become familiar with the curves of her body and the feel of her soft skin against his. If Rogue's abilities were coming back, he wouldn't be able to feel that part of he relationship anymore.


	2. Chapter One

hope you guys like this one. it's basically just an info chapter. some of Ginny's background, and more importantly, i tried to explain her mutant powers. again, hope it's good. send me some feedback. i want to hear what's going on in those pretty heads of yours.

Ruby...

**Chapter One**

Ginny hugged her leather jacket around her as she stared up at her home. It was the only place she ever felt that was truly a "home" to her, and she could barely contain the thought of seeing all her friends again. Kitty, Bobby, Peter. The memory of them made her heart flutter with excitement. But more so John, her boyfriend who she had left behind to pursue herself. She would be happiest to see him. He told her he would wait, and she hoped that he had kept that promise.

She had noticed little and remembered even less as she stood in her spot. Her pink Converse pivoted in the dirt as she turned towards the giant doors. Laying her hands on the familiar brass handle, she let herself be filled with the rush of satisfaction as she stepped into the hallways.

Kids were running down the hall. The late ones. Being around so many mutants at one time made her stomach knot and contract. The abilities she had been given were kicking in and making her sick. Her vision began to blur. She quickly found refuge from the stampede against the wall and curled herself into a ball, hoping no one passing had a dangerous, random, spontaneous power.

Arms wrapped around her and hoisted her from the floor. "Peter!" Colossus had come from the back of the pack and taken her into another room where she felt more comfortable.

"Still dealing with the side-affects, huh?" Peter smiled, placing her in a chair then hugging her for real. He had missed her just as much as she had missed him.

The knot was subsiding and her vison focused back to it's normal function. Peeling her leather jacket from her arms, revealing a worn tee and old bruises, she hugged him back. Feeling his strength against her own tiny body made her feel even better. "Still too strong for your own good, I see." She laughed back. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you be out scouring the far corners of the earth?"

"Good point." The embrace was broken when she felt a need to look at her friend. "I hear there's new X-Men in town and Tin Man here is one of them." But she didn't wait for a response. The sounds that the late kids had made had ended and the halls were once again safe and clear for Ginny to continue her "welcome home" tour. "Walk with me, Pete." He complied with her request. Safely peeking her head out of the corridor, Ginny felt no different than when she had when she was all alone on the front step. Perfect. Swinging her jacket over her shoulder, she waited for Peter to decide whether he wanted to go to class or go with her. He chose her. He always would. "So...where's John? And don't give me some cock and bull story that he's in class, cause we both know that would just be a lie."

Peter quickly shifted his weight on his feet, avoiding her gaze as she looked to him. "No one told you?" His words seemed hollow and fleeting. She watched his body language, then felt the knot in her stomach returning. Her taunt skin was become tighter and heavier the more she stood next to him, occasionally bumping into his arm as they sloppily walked.

Pushing him away so not to steal his mutant ability, she kept her distance as she wondered. "Don't tell me he's got someone else." The thought made her heart sink a little. Just what would she do if John hadn't kept his promise? She just always assumed he would without really excepting the fact that he might not have. "I just want to see him before I go talk to the professor."She was pleading with him now, and he could see it.

"No one told you, then."

"No one told me what?!"

"Look... maybe I shouldn't be the one to tell you something like this. I don't want to get you all upset, but..."

"But...it's too friggin' late now, Pete!"

He shrugged, running a slightly shaking hand through his hair. Maybe it wasn't so good to see her after all. "Just go to Storm's office. I'm sure she'll want to fill you in, okay?"

oOoOoOo

Ginny tapped the door to Storm's office ever so slightly before placing herself in the middle of the room. She watched her old teacher, and friend, frantically scrawl something on a document set before her while muttering something inaudible. "Uh...Storm?" It was just incase she hadn't heard the knock.

Storm's neck shot upwards, finding it giving her physical pain at the jolt. "Ginny...I wasn't expecting you until...well,...I'm not really sure."

"I know my letter to the professor was kind of vague. Speaking of which, where is he? I wanted to say 'hi', but the doors to his office were closed."

"Oh...well..."

Ginny saw the uncomfortableness in her tone and moved the conversation forward. "I saw Peter downstairs. He told me I should come to talk to you."

"That was good of him." Yes. She should be the one to have this horrible conversation. "How was your trip?" Maybe if she changed the subject entirely, it would give her more time to think of what to say.

"Not much of a trip, actually. But I would really like to get talking about what the hell is going on around here. Peter kind of freaked me out, so if you don't mind..."

Shit. There was no avoiding it. "Gin, maybe you should sit down." Not the best way to start, but still a start. Shit.

"Uh oh." Those words, no matter how they are used or inferred, are never good. Never. Ever! "Let's not bullshit this, okay?"

So Storm sat next to her, holding an arm around her neck incase Ginny decided she needed to cry, and told her. Sitting so close together, and the touching, wasn't such a good idea, but Storm let it go. Outside, it began raining. Hard. Ginny didn't mean to make it rain, but her gut feeling was just expressing itself through Storm's powers.

So to keep at short as possible, Storm told her how it all started. Everything from Magneto, who she knew, to Logan and Rogue, who she didn't know. The workings of Senator Kelly, to the workings of Magneto. Then she got onto the topic of Alkali Lake and Logan's visit, which sparked memories in Ginny that she would rather forget.

She had been to Alkali Lake. That's where she was born. Or created, but Ginny preferred the word "born". That's where Stryker, in another attempt to create the ultimate mutant, forced upon her ability to steal other abilities. Most times she didn't want to, but it just happened when she was in close confides with other mutants. She hated it there. All those years she had spent being experimented on, then she was just tossed out when the experiment had "failed". But Alkali Lake was Stryker had created her. He had taken two mutant genes from two other "experiments" and the product was Ginny. From that, her own mutant gene formed and gave her an ability she could control. The ability to bend light. Thinking of how much she loved her life since then, Alkali Lake wasn't as bad as she had made it out to be. After thinking of this Ginny realized she had drifted off into her own thoughts and had blocked out Storm's voice.

So she zoned her concentration back in and listened to how Jean Grey had come back from the "dead" and triggered the final, brain rattling events. Ginny waited until the end of the story to show any kind of emotion, all the while the rain outside getting heavier and heavier. Thunder and Lightning now flashed through the sky and cracked down on the ground.

"...and that's when Logan had to...had to..." Just to put these words bluntly made Storm well up in her own tears.

Ginny stood from her seat, brushing off Storm's arm. Mechanically walking out of the room, she needed to see if all this was true. She needed to find out for herself. Walking in a rhythmic pace with her breathing, she slowly made her way to Professor Xavier's office, hoping he would be sitting at his desk, working as diligently as Storm had been when Ginny first came to her. Her hand reached out to the large oak doors and opened them, revealing her worst nightmare. Professor Charles Xavier's wheelchair was sitting in the middle of the room, facing the chair Ginny used to occupy herself.

Her legs shook as she sat in the chair, curling in to a ball and bending the light around her to make herself invisible. That way no one would see her in her weakest moment. Ginny was only faintly aware that Storm had followed her and was waiting in the doorway. She wasn't really giving much thought to that, anyhow. She was thinking about how the professor had saved her when it seemed like she wasn't meant in this world. She was remembering his smile, and how he used to sit up at night and talk to her when she couldn't sleep. She remembered how he really had cared about her. And now...

He was just gone.


	3. Chapter Two

**long time no write. it took me FOREVER to spew out this chapter. i hope to be writing like crazy from now on...hopefully. anyhoo, i figured i'd add a character outline just in case someone out there still wasn't following. **

**enjoy! and PUH-LEEEEZZZZ review!**

**ruby**

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**Name:** Ginny 

**Superhero Name:** Aurora

**Age:** 17

**Basic Physical Appearance:** 5 "4". Brown "café au lait" colored hair down to mid-back (always worn up). Bright green eyes.

**Ability:** Bend Light (invisability, force fields)

**Other:** Created by Stryker from the DNA of 2 of his experiments, Steal other abilities because of experimentation

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Chapter Two 

Bobby sat in his seat, tapping his pencil off his notebook in the nervous fashion that had always made him drift off into his own thoughts. Questions ran through his head as he stared out the window to his left. What if Rogue's powers really did come back? He would have to say something, wouldn't he? Truthfully, this situation was dangerous to him, and everyone else she would have physical contact with. He had an obligation to talk to her.

So why did it seem so hard?

oOoOoOo

Ginny refused to cry, thinking that the physical emotion had no purpose whatsoever. She was used to being on her own and bottling things deep down. So when Storm sat at her side and tried to talk to her, Ginny removed herself from that room and began another journey of finding her old bedroom. The professor had promised to save her room for her, saying that this would always be a home for her. This was something else she counted on.

Walking down the hall with a purpose, Ginny rejecting to turn herself visible again until she was comfortable with herself. Everyone was still in class, so she wouldn't have to worry about bumping into anyone and causing an accident. Upon placing her feet on the second floor, she changed directions and headed towards her bedroom. She could see it halfway down the hallway, the door wide open. She never left her door open.

Ginny found that she couldn't concentrate anymore as her skin once again turned a light pale and the colors of her cloths followed until she was fully visible. She took off at a sprint down the hall.

Skidding on the carpeting, she grabbed the doorframe in a desperate attempt to keep herself upright. The room was filled with things. Not _her _things. Someone else's things. It was the biggest room in the hallway, including sharing a balcony with the girl next door. Someone must have wanted the space. Or needed it. She was hoping it was that latter, and someone with some sort of disability was about to come down the hall and inquire why she was staring into their room. Horrible as it might sound, Ginny was just feeling that low.

Her old neighbor phased through the door of her room and slipped a magazine underneath her arm. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going until she looked up and saw Ginny standing there, slouching and knees sagging. "Ginny?"

Ginny turned, forcing her eyes away from the chaos littering her old room and watched as Kitty ran towards her, arms outstretched. She was engulfed in a big hug, squeezed until her eyes wanted to pop, then released back into her horrible posture. Ginny gave her a weak smile. "What's this?" She pointed to the other person's things. Kitty looked inside, not really remembering who she shared the balcony with anymore.

"Oh, that's Warren's room." She remembered, thinking of the quiet and secluded kind of guy he was. "Oh my God, Ginny. That was _your_ room..."

Ginny gave herself a mental forehead slap, wondering just how her best friend could almost forget they where practically roommates. She had been gone for a long time, but was it _really_ that long? "Well, I guess it's not mine anymore."

"We just needed the space. I'm sure if you talked to Storm..."

"No." The last thing she wanted to do was see Storm again. "Where'd my stuff go, then?"

"I have it." A low, gruff voice signaled the arrival of someone else.

Ginny slowly turned until she was facing the one who had spoken. She looked him up and down, all the ay from his worn combat boots to his white t-shirt stretched across his chest. His hair stood up on both side but lay flat in the middle, giving him the appearance of a wild animal. That, and the scruff brazing his chin and the untamed sideburns creeping down his cheeks. Ginny looked at the man, feeling a 'pang' go off somewhere in her core. Then her fists started to hurt.

Logan held out his hand to her, feeling uncomfortable by the look he was getting. "Logan," he announced as his gaze moved up towards the ceiling, "Wolverine."

She carefully excepted it, rubbing her fingertips along his palm. "Ginny. Aurora." The professor had given her that name, saying that it told of her light bending powers and gave her a certain grace when she spoke it. "You have my things?"

He nodded and gestured for her to walk with him. She followed, but stayed at a safe distance behind the stranger, watching his motions carefully. It was just a force of habit. Stepping rheumatically with him, cocking her head and observing his posture and stride, she concluded that this was the man who had been to Alkali Lake. She knew most of the teachers here, but she was sure he wasn't one when she had left. He seemed rough around the edges and capable of supporting himself in stressful situations. Everything she could think of was telling her that this was the one. Plus, he seemed to study her the way she had been studying him, which means he was just as untrusting.

Something also told her that he would have been the one she had been searching for. He had to be. She had tracked down every mutant that had ever been to that place before it was destroyed, as Storm had told her. Most were still alive. The dead ones didn't matter, she knew that they weren't what she was looking for. Those were just failed experiments.

He led her just down the hall to another room all of it's own. A teacher's suite, as they called them. "Storm said you needed a lot of space from everyone else, and this was the only room available so I put you up in here." He grunted, rubbing his hands together. A smirk danced on his lips as she cautiously strode past him, examining her jumbled things. "Kitty tried to put it together for you." He brushed past her once more, throwing open the curtain and revealing the entire room.

It was quite larger than her other one, but that didn't mean she still wasn't annoyed of her loss. Several losses, actually. A round bed was in the corner of the room, a chest laying next to it. Her clothes that she had left behind. A wardrobe was on the adjacent wall, elegantly standing with superiority. Then there were the excess things. A desk. A lamp. A mirror. A window-seat. She didn't have her balcony anymore, but this was going to have to do. Accepting it, she turned on her heels to face Logan. "Thank you."

He shrugged and made his way back downstairs.

oOoOoOo

Warren planted his feet on the balcony after his flight, extending his wings and giving them one last stretch before folding them against his back again. All this flying was doing wonders for him, and the practice was making a difference. He had seen that in his training sessions.

Every muscle in his body was contracting, not used to the change in movement yet. He sat down, letting the pain take it's toll until everything was normal again, and let out a long needed sigh. Ever since coming to the school, he had been known as something of an outsider. True, he had never made a noticeable attempt to get in the "in" with everyone else, but he had his reasons. Warren had lived for years thinking that he was some sort of mutant freak. His father had only accelerated the feeling. Seeing everyone here - how they all seemed to perfect in their own skins - he did feel out of sorts. He had learned to accept himself, thinking of his wings as a gift. But deep down, really deep down, there was still something that he was loathing about himself.


	4. Chapter Two: prt two

Chapter Two: Part Two

That night, Ginny curled herself into a ball on her bed, her knees almost touching her chest but being blocked by a brown velvet book. Her diary. Kitty hadn't touched it. No one had. It was still safely in the bottom of her chest, hidden by all her cloths and other keepsakes she kept there, and untouched. When she opened it, she first thought of just reading her last couple of entries. Maybe that way she could try to sort some kind of emotion out to make her feel better.

There was something pulling at her soul, weighing it down and making her feel all sorts of exposure. It was odd for her to feel like this, and it made her feel weak.

She read the diary's contents, scanning certain pages for useful information. Everything was typical. Usually Ginny didn't have much to write about; maybe something she ate that day and really liked or a really good class or danger room session. Nothing close to showing big emotion. Then she turned to the pages that she had marked with a pink ribbon. The following pages where ones where she had written about John. When they started to go out. Cute things he had told her throughout the day. The way she got goose bumps when he would hold her hand. One specific emotion. Love.

Or something resembling it.

She let the book slid to the floor as she raised her hands above her head and let her body go limp. There was just something wrong, and she didn't know what.

Just as she had thought of giving up, Ginny stood and moved to turn on her stereo. She accidentally kicked the diary when her feet made contact with the floor, sending it sailing into the wall. Now the corner of a folded legal-sized paper poked out from the back fold. Curious, she finished selecting the track she wanted then opened the note.

oOoOoOo

Warren heard the familiar pulsations of a bass coming from a stereo. It was still early enough for everyone to be up, but most of the time the kids on this floor would be visiting their friends in their rooms or downstairs trying to entertain themselves. Even the ones who did stay in their rooms never blasted music. At one point, he could even make out some lyrics.

_(a) Whose eyes am I behind  
I don't recognize anything that I see  
Whose skin is this design _

_I don't want this to be the way that you see me_

He pulled a shirt on and slowly made his way down the hall, his ears prickling at the sound. The music continued:

_I don't understand anything anymore  
In this world that I'm tired of  
Is taking me right up these walls  
That I climb up  
To get to your story  
It's anything but ordinary _

And when the world is on its knees with me its fine  
And when I come to the rescue I get nothing but left behind  
Everybody seems to be getting what they need with mine  
'Cause your what I need so very but im anything but ordinary

It was coming from the vacant teacher's suite. Or at least he thought it was empty. Now he wasn't quite so sure.

Coming close to the door, he noticed that it was cracked open. A girl sat on the bed, her feet wiggling on the floor as she concentrated on a piece of paper in her hands.

_Can you save me from this world of mine  
Before I get myself arrested with this expectation  
You are the one look what you've done  
What have you done?  
This is not some kind of joke  
You're just a kid  
You weren't ready for what you did _

And when the world is on its knees with me its fine  
And when I come to the rescue I do it for you time after time  
Everybody seems to be getting what they need with mine  
'Cause you what I need so very but im anything but ordinary

He studied her, cocking his head in the inquisitive way he had become accustomed to. Her green eyes shimmered, although they were worn from lack of sleep. Lines creased across her forehead as tears started draining from her eyes the farther she read down the paper. She seemed rough around the edges, her chiseled facial features making her seem somewhat regal and poised. But the tears she was crying were real. They made her humble, and only accentuated her thin features. Almost too thin, like she had been starved, but muscles showed through her skin as her arms encircled her knees and her hand enveloped her face. A healthy starvation? Is there such a thing? Her skin was white - tinted pale - as her tanktop almost blending in around her shoulder and chest line.

The final words of the song finally hit him as she began to wipe her eyes.

_I think im trying to save the world from you  
You've been saving me too  
We could just stay in and save each other _

Im anything but ordinary  
(ordinary)  
Im anything but ordinary  
(ordinary)

He found himself rapping on the door with his knuckles. Pushing the door open after forcing the knock, he watched her, now swollen, red, face snap up and meet his. "Are you alright?"

She continued to clean herself up until the puffiness was gone, then proceeded to indulge him. "I'm fine. Can I help you?" He watched her glide across the floor with a grace he had never witnessed.

"I heard the music and I was just curious... Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded, choking everything back until it was bottled deep down again. "Sorry about that. I guess I just got used to no one else being around. I never really had anyone to bother..."

"It's wasn't a bother," he corrected, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "just wasn't something I'm used to hearing. I'm kind of new here, though. I never really knew that someone had this room. Are you a teacher?" He felt himself rambling while giving her another once over.

She squinted her eyes at him, slightly turning her head away from him. She was judging him, too. "No..."

Now he just felt stupid. He had gone on, talking fast then slowing down when he realized he was talking fast, and she had answered him in only one question. Playing the fool, he smirked at her then turned to go back to his room.

"You're Warren, aren't you?" She felt a prickling sensation run up and down her spine.

He stopped in his tracks, rolling on his heels until she was in his line of sight again. "How did you know?"

"You took my room." Surprisingly, there was nothing to the words. No malice, which is what she thought would come out. "Nice wings by the way." That even sounded gleeful. What the hell was going on?

Confuzzled(b) and a bit annoyed, Ginny was the one who returned to her room first. First, she slapped the stereo off, then slid under her blankets and hoped for sleep to come.

* * *

(a) Ordinary by Train... really great song that i was listening to while writing this...so... i decided to incorporate it! 

(b) the word i use to combine 'confused' and 'flustered' .


	5. Chapter Three

_short, but i felt it was time for an update anyway. anyhoo, lots of drama in this chapter. i promise there's an actual plot, and that's coming in the next chapter. enjoy!_

_and please REVIEW!_

_Ruby_

**Chapter Three**

Ginny read John's note out loud to Kitty:

_You've been gone so long and I can't wait anymore_

_Pyro_

"What happened to him?" She refused to cry for three reasons. One, crying wasn't going to do anyone any good. Two, she was out of tears. And three, her emotions had changed from extensively sad to exponentially angry. "He never called himself 'Pyro' with me."

Kitty reached over and hugged Ginny to her, cradling her best friends head in her arms. "He's not the same person anymore, Ginny. It's been years, and people change sometimes." Kitty concluded to herself that it must have been so hard for Ginny to be adjusting to all this, but she was adjusting. No matter what, she had to.

Ginny nodded, hugging Kitty back. "Pete told me everything. I mean... I saw what happened to the bridge and at the island, but he gave me the unsorted details. I just... I can't believe it. I never thought things would change so much." She paused to let a rant that was flowing through her thoughts pass, then continued, "I've been so caught up I haven't talked to Bobby yet. Where is the doofus?"

Kitty cocked her head. She hadn't seen him in a while either. "I'm not sure. Probably with Rogue. I'll go find him." Even though Ginny wasn't showing anything - or saying anything - Kitty knew that it would be best to leave her alone for a while. Ginny had always done well on her own, and babying her now wasn't going to help anything. So, taking her arms back from her, Kitty slid off the bed and disappeared through the floorboards.

Ginny always hated when she did that, disappearing and reappearing again without a word. But she was alone again. That she appreciated. Ginny pulled herself to her feet, her body feeling the weight of everything. Not only emotionally, but physically. She had been so used to running, traveling far distances in short days, and her body wanted to keep moving.

Ginny didn't need to be comforted anymore. What she needed was to be grounded.

Stepping out into the sunshine of her old - and Kitty's current - balcony, she glanced into Warren's room to see if anyone could watch her. The room was dark and the door was closed. She was alone.

Glancing down at the courtyard, Ginny saw all the smaller students running and playing with each other, taking advantage of the great weather and even greater friends. That's what she missed most, the old days. Playing tag or climbing the oak tree in the back of the mansion. Pretending to be X-men while simultaneously hoping that that's what their future would behold.

Ginny found herself not breathing, and deeply took in some air through her mouth with a sort of struggle. She thought maybe that it was because of all the mutants running around, but then decided that she was at a safe enough distance and that it was her own body becoming more wary.

oOoOoOo

Storm let herself into Kitty's room, seeing Ginny standing on her own. "Hey..." She wanted to make her presence known before scaring her. The last thing Storm needed was for someone to get struck with lightning because Ginny was feeling jumpy. "You're put up okay?"

Ginny gave her a weak smile, nodded, and turned back to watching the kids. Storm knew her smile was forced. "Don't do that, Storm. Please."

Strom leaned next to the railing next to Ginny, copying her stance. "Don't do what?"

"Don't try to fix me. I'm not broken." The seventeen-year-old was getting annoyed already. "Who's Logan?"

"What?"

"Logan. Wolverine. Whatever. Who the hell is he? For real." Storm still looked confused. "He's the one from Alkali Lake, isn't he? He was an experiment?"

Storm slowly nodded, her eyebrows knitting together in the center of her forehead. "What does that matter?"

Ginny gestured something, then shook it off. "Nothing." She faced the doors out to the balcony, her hand resting on the handle. "If you don't mind... I'd like to just think for a while."

Storm accepted Ginny's not so subtle way of telling her she was kicking her out. "I'll be in my office." Not that Ginny would need it, but Storm stated it anyway.

Ginny returned to her observations, looking up towards the clouds and the sun. A shadow fell across the yellow sphere, the shape of a large bird. But it wasn't a bird. It was a mutant.

oOoOoOo

Bobby stepped into the kitchen, seeing Rogue standing at the counter. She was fiddling with a candy bar wrapper, desperately trying to get it open and becoming flustered when nothing seemed to work. Bobby reached around her shoulder, attempting to take it from her. "Here, let me help."

Rogue was startled by his sudden appearance, ripping open the candy wrapper and spilling the contents out onto the floor. "Dammit, Bobby." She growled, rushing to clean it up.

"I was only trying to help," He shrugged, offering to help her pick clean up the mess he helped create. She shoved him away, taking her frustrations out on him. "What the hell is going on?" He whispered, noticing now that her hands were covered in the black gloves that she has made trademark. "Rogue?"

She let him take her hands in his, softly shedding a tear down her pale cheek. "Bobby...I ..."

But she didn't have to finish. Bobby knew that Rogue finally realized that her powers were coming back, and it was ripping her heart out. He hugged her close to him, but not as close as he would have liked.


	6. Chapter Four

**Hey everybody! And how was your Wednesday? Good, I hope. **

**My lack of updates are inexcusable. I have no idea why it takes me so much effort to write this fanfic, and I apologize. Anyway, some action happens here. **_**Some**_**. More to come in the next chapter. (Which I plan to have up soon. I hope.)**

**Enjoy. And review! Please. **

**Ruby **

Chapter Four

_Lights swirled, illuminating everything but casting it into darkness at the same time. The wind blew, tossing everything around the ground up towards their ankles and twisting into the sky. Ginny felt herself uplifted by the draft, unable to control to power it had over her. She fought furiously to catch the light around her, to hold herself down. It was no use. She was just losing strength and gaining nothing. _

_Warren was there, struggling just as hard farther up in the air. His wings had been caught in the updraft. His once beautiful white feathers were now glazed with blood. Instead of extending outwards, then stretched up over his head. Like they were being ripped from his body. He screamed something undescribable as he disappeared into the wind._

_Storm yelled to her, her silver cape flapping about uncontrollably as she screamed and stomped on the ground. "STOP IT! STOP!" But Ginny couldn't understand just what was supposed to be stopped. _

_Then the wind stopped, and Ginny was thrust towards the ground with the intensity of being rammed by a bull. Plucking herself up from the frozen ground, she dusted the snow off from her cloths and examined herself. Her hands were cut and bleeding, probably from the fall. Her skin was red and braised, her hair matted with mud. And she was alone._

_She pivoted slowly as she heard footsteps approach from behind her. A steady breathing and unfaltering heartbeat prickled at her ears. Logan. He stood in front of her, staring at her with unshielded claws. _

_He lunged_

Ginny snapped up in her bed, awoken by something other than her dream. A loud crash shook her room, making all the furniture rumble from their spots and slide across the room. She would have been buried underneath the giant wardrobe if someone hadn't reached out and picked her up. Peter. He slung her over his shoulder and rushed back out into the hallway. Finally, being completely awake by the cold metallic of Pete's tin man form, Ginny realized that everyone was out in the hallway. _Everyone._

Her head started to ache and pulsate, as if that wardrobe had hit her straight on. Her skin became clammy, her heart rate slowed. she was quickly losing strength as her body tried to accommodate for all of the mutant powers it was trying to take in all at once. Ginny quickly lost consciousness just after her vision had failed. Before everything went black, she let out a shrill scream from all the pain she was in and felt Peter hike her up higher on his shoulder.

oOoOoOo

"Ginny!?" Her eyesight was blurred, but Ginny was able to make out the silhouette of Storm and Kitty standing over her. "Ginny! Thank God!"

She was laying on the ground, gravity weighing down fiercely on her as she tried to push herself up. Storm quickly reached out to push her back to the ground, but stopped short. "You need to stay still, Ginny. You're still really weak and you lost a lot of blood."

Ginny, compromising, leaned on her knees and surveyed the situation. They were in the middle of the woods, surrounded by nothing but trees. She was laying at the base of a tree, an orb of pink light surrounding her. "What's going on?"

"That's you, sweetie," Kitty cooed, planting her hands on the orb and pushing. Ginny quickly understood that Kitty was trying to phase through it, but to no avail. "You put it up right after you lost consciousness."

She let go of the light surrounding her, the pink orb falling away. "I lost blood?"

Storm motioned to her ears. "You're body just couldn't handle the stress of all those mutants around at the same time."

Ginny reached up to her own ears, feeling the caked blood all down her cheeks. "What the hell happened?"

Bobby, Rogue, Peter, Warren, and Logan appeared from out in the distance. "Everyone seems to be gone, but I don't think it's safe to go back just yet." Logan frowned, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Ginny looked at them, pleading them with her eyes to just stop everything and just explain this all to her. She wanted to scream, but she held it in. Kitty sat down in the dirt next to her, and the rest quickly followed suite until only Storm and Logan were standing. Apparently, they wanted to know the same thing.

Logan's hand left his pocket and slid down his face in a moment of composure. His frown deepened, his eyes sunk. "They looked like..." But there was something in his statement that couldn't allow him to finish his sentence. So Storm finished it for him.

"Stryker's men?"

Logan nodded. "But that's impossible."

Ginny stood, although shakily. "I think us, if anyone, should know that nothing's impossible. They _could_ be Stryker's men. Or, they could just look similar." In her heart, Ginny was hoping that it really was Stryker. Then, at last, she would be able to find out who her family was.

"It can't be. I watched Stryker die. Remember?" Logan turned to Storm for confirmation, but he received none. He had no idea why he was panicking so much - although not showing much of it. The thought os Stryker made his skin crawl, but at the same time he was as curious and hopeful as Ginny. Stryker was the only person Logan had ever known to give him definitive answers. Lately, he had given up on the questions, but the confusion of tonight had knocked them all back into the foremost part of his brain. He was trying to remember something. But what?"

Storm started pacing. "We should work on finding the other students," she sighed. "I can't believe this is happening again."

Rogue, trying her best not to touch anyone seeing as how she wasn't wearing her gloves, stood and addressed them all. "We don't know it's happening again. We don't know anything."

Ginny nodded towards her. "I say we send someone back to the school. Just to see what went down."

Storm cross her arms and began tapping her foot in frustration. "And I suppose you want to be one to go back? After you nearly died?"

Ginny nodded. "If it makes you feel better, Stryker didn't have mutants working for him. I'll be fine." She finished with a shrug.

Logan looked from Ginny to Storm and back several times. "I'll go with her," he grunted, seeing just how determined this girl was.

"And me," Peter stood.

Ginny glanced at him lovingly, glad that she had such a good friend that understood her curiosity and drive. Then Warren stood and nodded towards Logan. The act alone made her smile. Why, she wasn't exactly sure.

Storm threw her hands up into the air. "If you're all not back in ten minutes, we're leaving without you."

Logan turned off and looked in the direction he had come from earlier. "It'll take at least an hour to check out the whole place."

"Fine. One hour."


End file.
